Cell type-specific cis-regulatory divergence in gene expression and chromatin accessibility revealed by human-chimpanzee hybrid cells.

ABSTRACT: Although gene expression divergence has long been postulated to be the primary driver of human evolution, identifying the genes and genetic variants underlying uniquely human traits has proven to be quite challenging. Theory suggests that cell type-specific cis-regulatory variants may fuel evolutionary adaptation due to the specificity of their effects. These variants can precisely tune the expression of a single gene in a single cell type, avoiding the potentially deleterious consequences of trans-acting changes and non-cell type-specific changes that can impact many genes and cell types, respectively. It has recently become possible to quantify human-specific cis-acting regulatory divergence by measuring allele-specific expression in human-chimpanzee hybrid cells-the

SUBMITTER: Wang B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10245923 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature